Quick Links

Disney to buy Marvel for 4 Billion

LOS ANGELES – The Walt Disney Co. said Monday it is buying Marvel Entertainment Inc. for $4 billion in cash and stock, bringing characters like Iron Man and Spider-Man into the family of Mickey Mouse and WALL-E.

Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of 5,000 Marvel characters. Many of them, including the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, were co-created by the comic book legend Stan Lee.

Analyst David Joyce of Miller Tabak & Co. said the acquisition will help Disney appeal to young men who have flocked to theaters to see Marvel's superheroes in recent years. That contrasts with Disney's recent successes among young women with such fare as "Hannah Montana" and the Jonas Brothers.

"It helps Disney add exposure to a young male demographic it had sort of lost some balance with," Joyce said, noting the $4 billion offer was at "full price."

Disney said Marvel shareholders will receive $30 per share in cash, plus 0.745 Disney shares for every Marvel share they own. That values each Marvel share at $50 based on Friday's closing stock prices.

Disney said the boards of both companies have approved the transaction, but it will require an antitrust review and the approval of Marvel shareholders.

Disney CEO Robert Iger said the acquisition combines Marvel's "strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters" with Disney's "unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties" and ability to maximize value across multiple platforms and territories.

What the crap? I didn't think Marvel was even up for grabs at this point. Does this mean we'll start seeing Pixar animated versions of comics that have been running for two generations or more? I know Disney runs some off-brand movie studios, but I just can't be happy about this whole thing.

As far as how it's affecting Marvel's day to day operations...I don't think it'll alter too much. Disney owns ABC, and ABC airs things like Lost, so it's not like they're going to make the comics too "kiddy," or whatever, and they put Pirates of the Caribbean out under the Disney name, so I don't really expect to see that affect too much.

What I'm hoping is that it means higher quality animation and television properties. Or at least ones with more exposure. It's a good move for Marvel, because Disney does pretty much decide what kids like at this point, so there's a bonus there.

And for anyone super worried about Hannah Montana crossovers or whatever, it's not like Marvel hasn't already done weirder stuff. Doesn't anyone remember when they had the backup where New Avengers crossed over with a soap opera?

As far as how it's affecting Marvel's day to day operations...I don't think it'll alter too much. Disney owns ABC, and ABC airs things like Lost, so it's not like they're going to make the comics too "kiddy," or whatever, and they put Pirates of the Caribbean out under the Disney name, so I don't really expect to see that affect too much.

What I'm hoping is that it means higher quality animation and television properties. Or at least ones with more exposure. It's a good move for Marvel, because Disney does pretty much decide what kids like at this point, so there's a bonus there.

And for anyone super worried about Hannah Montana crossovers or whatever, it's not like Marvel hasn't already done weirder stuff. Doesn't anyone remember when they had the backup where New Avengers crossed over with a soap opera?

The Guiding Light. That is the only soap my mom watches and I remember her being so confused by that whole thing. Even more than I was.

This is a surprise, really. I hadn't heard any rumblings in either community about it.

I can see Marvel operating on the same path as DC does with Warner Bros. Owned, but not controlled. Disney will probably fold BOOM! into Marvel. It would only make sense.

I do wonder what happens now with Universal Studios and their deal with Marvel- they've got a whole section of their Islands of Adventure theme park in Orlando that's dedicated to Marvel Comics characters...

Disney certainly isn't going to grab a ton of successful IPs and go about mucking with the system. We might (probably) will see more family friendly versions of characters but not at the expense of the core comics.

Actually, it ALSO gives Marvel the muscle they need to grab the film rights to their characters that are floating around other studios (Spider-man, X-men, etc) should they choose to do so. Given the direction they are taking their films that could potentially be a huge benefit.

EDIT: Mentioned this in the news thread: Disney owns a lot of CrossGen IPs, maybe we will see some of them return.

Actually, it ALSO gives Marvel the muscle they need to grab the film rights to their characters that are floating around other studios (Spider-man, X-men, etc) should they choose to do so. Given the direction they are taking their films that could potentially be a huge benefit.

I don't really see them messing with Spider-Man and X-Men. Those properties are still cash cows. I think it's more likely they go after stuff like Fantastic Four.

Wow, that's pretty fucking insane news. I would've thought that if anyone was going to buy Marvel, it would've been around the time they were near bankrupt, not when they're doing as well as they are now.

I doubt there'll be much of a change on the comics side but I'm guessing the movie rights will get kinda messy. Sony Pictures currently hold the Spider-Man movie license, Fox holds the X-Men and Fantastic Four movie licenses, but the others should be fine. Hopefully they don't close down Marvel Pictures though, since they've done a pretty decent job so far.

The games might be a little weird too. Disney have their own game publisher (Buena Vista Games) but Activision hold a bunch of Marvel licenses (including the Spider-Man movies game license). I'm guessing it'll make any possible Marvel vs Capcom sequel less likely too, though Disney did collaberate with Square Enix for Kingdom Hearts.

Warner Bros. doesn't really do anything with DC characters, which is part of the problem.

Right! The execs at Warner Brothers don't know what to do with any of the characters they have the rights to. They have a general idea that Superman & Batman are popular, and maybe Wonder Woman, but that's it. Disney has experience with iconic characters.

Warner Bros. doesn't really do anything with DC characters, which is part of the problem.

Right! The execs at Warner Brothers don't know what to do with any of the characters they have the rights to. They have a general idea that Superman & Batman are popular, and maybe Wonder Woman, but that's it. Disney has experience with iconic characters.

You do realize that WB owns Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Taz, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, and a whole bunch of other iconic characters themselves, right?

So does this mean Wolverine as sidekick in the next Kingdom Hearts?
Also, if this means that Fox never gets the rights for another Marvel movie, it already has one plus

I just really hope, like everybody else, that they really just leave it as an independent studio and just co op on movies and other projects. Because i thought it was dumb as shit to cut smoking from their comics, but i can already see the headlines that Disney produces comics with sexual content(ie Max).
The possibility of a Pixar produced Fantastic Four(kinda hard after Incredibles,but meh) does excites me though

Actually, it ALSO gives Marvel the muscle they need to grab the film rights to their characters that are floating around other studios (Spider-man, X-men, etc) should they choose to do so. Given the direction they are taking their films that could potentially be a huge benefit.

How would it give them the muscle to grab them back? As far as I know, buying bought out doesn't automatically cancel out any contracts they've made with Sony Pictures or Fox. I guess they could try to buy out the remainder of their contracts but considering how much money those franchises make, I doubt either studio would agree.

Tach: BOOM! is an independant company, so they won't be integrated into Marvel. I don't know BOOM! and Disney's arrangement though, so I've no idea what will happen to them. Hopefully BOOM! won't be too screwed over by this.

Warner Bros. doesn't really do anything with DC characters, which is part of the problem.

Right! The execs at Warner Brothers don't know what to do with any of the characters they have the rights to. They have a general idea that Superman & Batman are popular, and maybe Wonder Woman, but that's it. Disney has experience with iconic characters.

You do realize that WB owns Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Taz, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, and a whole bunch of other iconic characters themselves, right?

Yes. The problem is, the last time they did something good with the Looney Tunes was Space Jam, and the Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain haven't had anything done with them since...shit, I don't even know.

Warner Bros. doesn't really do anything with DC characters, which is part of the problem.

Right! The execs at Warner Brothers don't know what to do with any of the characters they have the rights to. They have a general idea that Superman & Batman are popular, and maybe Wonder Woman, but that's it. Disney has experience with iconic characters.

You do realize that WB owns Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Taz, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, and a whole bunch of other iconic characters themselves, right?

Yes. The problem is, the last time they did something good with the Looney Tunes was Space Jam, and the Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain haven't had anything done with them since...shit, I don't even know.

You know, there is a very good chance of this leading to awesome animated comic films. I like live action superhero stuff too, but sometimes the art is what draws me to a thing, rather than the story, or characters sitting around talking about who should play who in the movie about their lives.

Consider all the other DC projects that never fully got off the ground. One movie a year might be a little much, but three movies in a decade when you have thousands of characters at your disposal counts as not knowing WTF to do with the properties you own.

That being said, WB is starting to turn things around by giving DC more creative control over the movies based on their properties.

yeah haven't they like produced 3 animated movies in 3 years? Thats pretty good, considering that WB could have stood in the way and cancelled their asses like they did JLA(because theoretically it would confuse people if Batman was on a cartoon AND in a movie)

Thane on August 2009

0

FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular

yeah haven't they like produced 3 animated movies in 3 years? Thats pretty good, considering that WB could have stood in the way and cancelled their asses like they did JLA(because theoretically it would confuse people if Batman was on a cartoon AND in a movie)

The Animated stuff has been good lately, yeah. The animated wing of Warner Brothers seems like the only people who don't have their heads up their asses when it comes to DC.

That being said, Marvel also has pretty good animated movies coming out often, along with a live action movie or two every year.
Right now Marvel has their own Island theme park at Universal Studios. That was without a huge corporation like Disney owning them.

DC doesn't have anywhere near the exposure that Marvel does and they have Time Warner behind them.